The first Belarusian female cosmonaut to perform a space mission!

Marina Vasilevskaya, formerly a flight attendant at Belavia Airlines and now the first female cosmonaut in the history of sovereign Belarus, at 15:36 Minsk time, imprinted forever the day of March 23rd in the history of our country. Together with Oleg Novitsky, the crew commander of the 21st Visiting Expedition, and American Tracy Dyson, she successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station (ISS) on the Soyuz MS‑25 spacecraft.  On March 25th, at 18:02 Minsk time, the crew of the Soyuz MS-25 manned transport spacecraft docked at a port on the station’s Earth-facing Prichal Module, a part of the Russian ISS Segment. The crew of the 21st Visiting Expedition to the ISS has a general task — to carry out the space flight programme, its scientific experiments and work on board the station. 

The first female cosmonaut from Belarus, Marina Vasilevskaya.      BELTA

How it all started

The Head of State initiated a nationwide project to prepare a Belarusian cosmonaut for flight. Later, the President of Belarus said that in total, interviews were conducted with more than 3 thousand people. As a result, six of our compatriots became candidates for the title of the first Belarusian cosmonaut in the sovereign history of the country. Among them were representatives of a wide variety of professions — flight attendants, a state forensic expert, a pediatric surgeon, an obstetrician-gynecologist, a junior researcher at the Institute of Physical and Organic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.
As a result, Belavia flight attendant Marina Vasilevskaya and pediatric surgeon Anastasia Lenkova became candidates for space flight from Belarus. Marina was assigned to the main crew, and Anastasia was assigned to the backup crew. The girls were trained at the Test Cosmonaut Centre, which is located in Zvyozdny Gorodok [Star City] near Moscow.
Oleg Novitsky, an experienced Roscosmos cosmonaut, born in the Belarusian city of Cherven, became the commander of the main crew of the 21st Visiting Expedition to the ISS. 

The Baikonur Cosmodrome, launch vehicle lift-off    YEGOR YERMALITSKIY

Talented, with an incredibly strong personality

Marina Vasilevskaya comes from an ordinary working-class family, just like world-famous Yuri Gagarin. The girl is known for her incredibly strong personality and determination. As her parents note, she takes after her grandfather in that. “She has always moved only forward. She has always aspired to be the first and now — she has become the first cosmonaut of the independent Republic of Belarus,” told Marina’s mother Irina Viktorovna.
The cosmonaut’s brother, Aleksandr, recalled with a smile, “My sister has always been the talented one in our family — she paints, sings, dances, cooks delicious dishes. So, she will cope with space. I admit, as a child, I dreamed of being a cosmonaut myself, back then all guys dreamed of it. Yet life has decided differently — children, family, work.” 
Preparing for a space flight is a difficult and responsible task. It includes a centrifuge, simulator training, working out various emergency situations, and more. The training of Marina Vasilevskaya and Anastasia Lenkova lasted about eight months.
One of the trainings was to work out the actions of the crew in case of the descent vehicle landing on the water. The crews practiced survival skills after landing on the water surface, fitting equipment, simulating evacuation aboard a helicopter while in a hover, using bench evacuation facilities. Survival training in the winter forest became even more spectacular.

How the President of Belarus supported Marina and Anastasia

In early January of this year, Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Marina Vasilevskaya and Anastasia Lenkova in Minsk. The Head of State congratulated the participants of the space programme on the New Year and Christmas, presenting flowers and wristwatches. “These are for you in case you get times mixed up. But I have set the exact Belarusian time,” the President smiled. 
A few days before the start, the Head of State had a video conference call with Marina Vasilevskaya and Oleg Novitsky. The President invited them to visit him after the flight and promised to treat them to his signature salad.
“We will be so much waiting for you! I would like you to be friendly there. Oleg, let’s cook our traditional salad [referring to the ‘Molodost’ (Youth) salad, which the Head of State had previously prepared together with Oleg Novitsky during one of the previous personal meetings — Editor’s note]. We’ll treat Marina. We’ll teach her how to make our salad,” the President noted. 

The cosmic scale tasks 

Initially, the launch date of Soyuz MS‑25 with Marina Vasilevskaya on board was set for March 21st. However, it was decided to fly on a reserve day. Before launching, the automation found an error. Roscosmos Director General Yuri Borisov pointed out then — it was unpleasant but not critical, “Twenty seconds before the lift-off, an abnormal situation occurred due to a voltage drop in a chemical current source. In this situation, the start returns to its original position. The crew was evacuated within an hour and sent to the hotel. Their spacesuits had been previously removed from them. The cosmonauts were not affected.”
Such situations happen. Thus, even Elon Musk’s famous Crew Dragon did not take off immediately; the date transfer happened more than once. 
The launch of the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-25 manned transport vehicle successfully took place two days later, as thousands of broadcast viewers could see. The only drawback: on March 21st the cosmonauts could have reached the ISS in 3 hours, but now their journey took over 50 hours! During this time, the spacecraft made 34 orbits around the Earth.

Successful docking

The crew of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft successfully docked to the ISS on March 25th. The docking process took place in several stages. At 18:02 there was a touchdown, after which the spacecraft was docked to the Prichal Module of the ISS Russian segment. 
After docking, the cosmonauts began to prepare for the transfer to the ISS. This process takes two to three hours — it is necessary to equalise the pressure at the station and the crew transfer vehicle, check the docking tightness, and carry out a number of other important procedures. The stage of opening the transition hatches begins only after that.
We will find out on April 6th how the Soyuz MS-25 flight went, what experiments the Belarusian performed on the ISS and what she is planning to do after returning to the Earth. It is on this date that Oleg Novitsky, Marina Vasilevskaya, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, who is currently on the ISS, are scheduled to return. 

 Moscow Mission Control Centre.     Ilya Shvedko 

Aleksandr Lukashenko signed decree on status of Belarusian cosmonaut

Head of State Aleksandr Lukashenko signed Decree No. 100 On Belarusian Cosmonaut’s Status on March 19th. As reported by the Belarusian leader’s press service, the document — which enshrines the rights and duties of a cosmonaut of the Republic of Belarus — was adopted in order to determine the legal status of cosmonauts and persons equated to them, taking into account the implementation of the first space flight project in Belarus’ sovereign history.
In line with the decree, the status of cosmonaut is assigned to a Belarusian citizen who has completed a space flight, as well as to their understudy.
In order to recognise the merits of a cosmonaut to the Motherland, the document envisages a number of benefits and preferences, including retaining the position, medical care at the Republican Clinical Medical Centre, retiring pension, and state support in housing construction.
At the same time, it is determined that a cosmonaut should correspond to their high rank, be civic-minded, take an active part in the country’s socio-political life, and adequately represent Belarus in the international arena.
The implementation of the decree will contribute to consolidating the positive image of Belarus as a high-tech state, promoting the country’s knowledge and competencies in the field of peaceful space exploration.

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by